Information Commissioner's Office

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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Information Commissioner's Office >> Cabinet Office (Central government) [2022] UKICO 94345 (9 June 2022)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKICO/2022/ic-94345.html

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Cabinet Office

The complainant requested from the Cabinet Office (“CO”) information relating to Ministerial misconduct complaints. The CO refused to confirm or deny whether it held the requested information to part 1 of the request and relied on section 40(5B) (neither confirm nor deny) of FOIA. It also relied on section 21(1) (information reasonably accessible by other means) to the remaining parts of the request. The Commissioner’s decision is that section 40(5B) is not engaged and therefore the CO is not entitled to rely on this exemption. With regard to section 21(1) of FOIA the Commissioner’s decision is that he is not persuaded that the requested information is readily available to the applicant, and that the CO is not entitled to rely on this exemption to parts 2 and 3 of the request. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation. Issue a fresh response which must confirm or deny whether the information is held, and either disclose the requested information or issue a valid refusal notice compliant with section 17 of FOIA. Disclose the information withheld under section 21(1) of FOIA.

FOI 21: Complaint upheld FOI 40(5B): Complaint upheld

Decision notice: ic-94345